What a better way to celebrate Baby C's 2-week birthday than to recount an abridged (and censored) version of our labor and delivery!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Today was my first (pre-) Mother's Day. I feel like Grandma where it's like an additional birthday of the year! For the past few days, Husband's been asking what I want to do, where I want to eat, and if there is anything that I want. I don't know if pregnancy hormones have anything to do with this but I have been the most frustratingly indecisive person ever these past few months so of course I couldn't make any decisions. As I took a relaxing lavender-vanilla-oatmeal bath (to stave off the pregnancy hives), Husband slipped a sweet Mother(-to-be)'s Day card under the door. I was so touched. :)
We celebrated Mother's Day by going over to Aunty Dina's to celebrate with all the mothers there. On our way, we stopped by Target and JCPenney to exchange and purchase a few more items for Baby C. We also picked up some items to BBQ and a Boston Cream Pie for dessert. A wonderful late lunch commenced and bets were placed on when Baby C would arrive.
May 10 was his estimated due date. Shelley put her (fake) money on May 10. Aunty Dina said May 14 (the New Moon). Bro and FBIL said May 13 for Mom's birthday. I just guessed sometime this week.
Little did I know that by the middle of the night, I would KNOW that Baby C would come before May 13...
Monday, May 10, 2010
I started what I thought were false contractions on Monday around 2:30 AM. The positive thing was that I no longer woke up from the insane itch of the hives; now I was waking up on the half hour to an hour from crazy menstrual-like pains magnified about 3-fold. I finally got up around 6 AM on Monday, and the pains came more frequently ranging from 3 - 15 minutes and lasting 30-60 sec duration. I still thought they were false labor b/c I could walk them off. I even went to Costco to "walk around" (and to do a last run "just in case"). When I got home, Husband had already brought our hospital overnight bags (i.e., carry-on luggage) to the door to put in our car, and he was showered and ready to go! Haha. I told him, don't be disappointed if we don't go today. He said, "but I want to go now! I want the baby boy to come now!" ;)
Around 8 or 9 PM, the contractions got harder to manage/walk off. By the time we were hopping into bed around 12 AM, Husband knew I was in lots of pain, and I really didn't think I could make it through the night. I had been pacing back and forth in our little place all evening long. He started timing my contractions b/c he didn't believe my wide range of 2 - 10 minutes with 50-75 seconds in duration. He timed me for almost an excruciating hour, and they ranged from 2 - 6 minutes with 50-60 s average duration. He finally called the Dr. around 1 AM, who said we could go to the hospital but they'll turn us away if I'm not dilated 3 cm. How in the world would I know? We were told that we wouldn't know dilation until someone (i.e., nurse) examines me. After about 10 minutes, I told him that I wanted to go to the hospital and take the chance. I was sure I had to be at least 3 cm with all the pain I was enduring.
We got to the UCLA-Santa Monica Medical Center around 2 AM. When we got there, they checked us in and after doing the initial procedural stuff, Nurse 1 checked me and said my contractions were coming strong every 3 - 7 minutes...but I was "only dilated 1...maybe 2 cm." I was like, for reals?? How much harder could they hit?? I would come to find out that there is no proportional scale between the pain/duration/interresponse time of contractions and dilation.
Nurse 1 called the Dr., who said I should go home, but to her better judgment, she ran a test and discovered I was dehydrated so she told me to drink a pitcher of water, wait it out, and then decide whether I should go home or not. For that, I am so grateful to her. From 3 - 4 AM, Husband kept forcing me to drink water and cheering me on ("only half a pitcher left!"), and then my contractions went to 10 minutes apart on average. At that point, the Dr. made it my decision to stay. I looked at the sad little fold out recliner that Husband would be sleeping on and felt bad for him, but of course he was a sweetheart and left the decision up to me. I told him I wanted to stay b/c if we went home, I wouldn't know when to come back. I just felt so much more secure and comfortable staying at the hospital, even if it meant we could be spending an extra day. One of the nurses said that on average, it takes an hour to dilate a cm...which meant it could still be 8 more hours of excruciating pain (i.e., labor) before I delivered.
Nurse 1 left to assist a C-section, and Nurse 2 took over. At around 5 A.M., I asked Nurse 2 when we could talk about pain relief. She said, I could get the epidural any time. I asked her to examine me because I was sure I had to be at least 3 or 4 cm by now (old-skool/conservative point to get an epidural). She said I was still barely 2 cm dilated! At around 6:30 AM, Nurse 2 said the Dr. wanted to start the pitocin to help labor progress. Totally fine with me as I had requested that in my Birth Plan. The not so fine part was that 1) I could tell she wasn't as experienced as Nurse 1 and 2) when she tried to stick me for the IV, she fished around and still couldn't stick me. This made me think of BSILF's poor little Muffin Man and how awfully painful his blood draws must have been!!! I only had to endure one unsuccessful stick before she called an experienced nurse in to re-do it successfully. They put me on the lowest dosage and right away, the contractions became closer in time and after a half hour, I asked for an epidural.
Dr. Anesthesiologist came in to administer the epidural a half hour after the pitocin was administered. He took some time to set up, and Nurse 2 stayed with me to help me get the epidural. I had to sit up, hunch over like an arched cat, and keep reminding myself to relax my shoulders. I guess I did a really "good job" b/c both of them kept saying with huge smiles that I took it so well, and the Dr. couldn't have been any more proud of his work. He came in several times to check on me. Husband was pretty asleep for most of the process (which was fine with me b/c he can't stand the sight of me and needles/shots and I wanted him to be alert for the actual delivery), but he did hear prior to the stick that both Dr. Roberts and Lisa were saying that I am really healthy (my platelet count was really good).
I think I was still only 2 cm dilated when I asked for the epidural, but by the time I was done getting the epidural around 7:30 AM (a half hour later), I was dilated at 7-8 cm. In an hour, I went from 2 cm to 7-8 cm!!! Nurse 2 called the Dr. so he came by around 8 AM and in that half hour of waiting for him, I dilated to 8-9 per Dr. He told me to get some rest because I would start pushing at 10 A.M.
At 10 A.M., Nurse 3 came in and started prepping me. She was very pleased with how things were progressing. She had me give her 3 rounds of pushing and then she said, "Okay, hold on, I have to call Dr. --- b/c your baby is coming." I looked at Husband both in excitement, anxiety, and bewilderment. This is it! Our son was about to be born!
Dr. came around 10:25 - 10:30 AM, and we gave 20-25 mins of pushing. When people ask me how my labor and delivery went, I tell them, "everyone tells me I had an easy one," because that is really what every staff member told me during my stay. One even told me that I should lie if other mothers ask me because they will be so jealous. I guess that is what I have to thank my mother for. Although my mother couldn't remember her labor and delivery with my brother and me, Grandma and other relatives remembered that my mom delivered in a jiffy.
The unfortunate and unexpected thing happened when we were almost at the finish line. The Dr. said, "I know you want avoid an episiotomy, but your baby's heart rate is dropping a little bit" (fetal distress) and at that point, a whole gang of NICU staff came in (staff and students). I think I was really naive b/c for some reason, I thought the NICU staff was coming in to do the newborn clean up and procedures, but in retrospect, they came in b/c of the potential for fetal distress. Plus, when Baby C was delivered, we overheard something about a cord wrapped around him, but then it ended up being "another cord" and was of no concern (what the heck does that mean? We still don't know.).
I was like, do what you have to do (b/c b/t this and a C-section, I'd rather this as the lesser of 2 evils). When Baby C was crowning, Nurse 3 exclaimed, "wow, he has a lot of hair!" I opened my eyes during the last push, just in time to see the back of Baby C's beautiful head of hair. It was love at first (hind) sight. Beautiful Baby C popped out at 10:54 A.M. at 6 pounds, 11 ounces! I couldn't help but cry uncontrollably at that point. How can I not when we just experienced such a miraculous event?
As the NICU nurses whisked our baby boy away, one nurse said to Husband, "He's looking at you, Daddy." That's when Husband broke down in tears of love, joy, and excitement. The NICU nurses took him a few feet away to clean him up for a few minutes. I couldn't see him, but I did see his feet and how he fanned them out! That made me laugh. Husband and I held hands and just reveled in the moment.
I waited for them to clean Baby C up a little before he was placed on my chest. The sad thing is that we missed the photo op of them weighing him in. Why in the world did we not have our camera out before delivery? (This is how cheesy and "new Millenium" we are/I am; I said to Husband, "well, just take a pix with your iPhone!" He was probably too embarrassed to do that.)
Once the commotion was all over, we were left alone for the "Golden Hour" of bonding b/t the 3 of us. Baby C's uncles were kept waiting outside until after 12 PM. They finally got to come in while Nurse 3 and her student intern were finishing up measuring our little guy and doing all the newborn stuff.
The first time Daddy got to hold his baby boy was when his uncles came in. I could easily see that Baby C instantly stole Daddy C's heart. I couldn't believe such a beautiful little angel came out of me. Nine months of anticipating what our little guy will be like and what he will look like finally came! I commented about the "next time" we have a baby, and Nurse 3 laughed and said, "usually, no new mothers talk about the next birth so soon, but you're already talking about your next one!" I responded that with the epidural made all the difference.
New Uncle Ben was so excited to meet his little nephew.
(This is him saying Baby C has Mommy's "bird lips.")
Two hours postpartum, I was wheeled into a recovery room. A few hours later, we had a surprise visitor -- my mom! When she got to the hospital, she told my bro to meet her at the gift shop. She bought a cute little surgeon's outfit layette for our baby, a winnie the pooh and tigger balloon (Tigger for year of the tiger), and a cute card.
Grandma/Mom stayed for several hours. :) Baby C also had two other special visitors -- Kathy and Vonny (who co-threw Baby C's baby shower).
Late that night, around 11:45 PM, after Husband fell asleep, I brought Baby C to the nursery for his first bath. Oh my goodness, he cried so much! But he got a cute faux-hawk after his hair wash. :)
(Look at those chubby cheeks! Definitely from his Mommy!)
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
On Wednesday, Mom wasn't able to come although she really wanted to. We didn't do much except continually marvel at our little one. I constantly got checked on by the nurses so getting rest was a bit challenging. Husband went home briefly to pick up a few things and feed our turtle. My bro and FBIL stopped by that evening for a little bit and brought a mini-rose plant.
That night, the male nurse (murse?) did the newborn hearing screening and pricked Baby C's foot for PKU testing. Our baby was so brave! He was asleep and when he was pricked, all he did was wince a little and that was it! (He passed the newborn hearing screening and the nurse said, "Congratulations! He can hear you!") (I was soOOOoOo glad that by the time we had the male nurse, I no longer needed routine check-ups of my private regions! He simply asked how I was doing, rated my pain, and gave me Motrin every 4 hours without me asking -- which was perfect!)
Thursday, May 13, 2010
We got up early for breakfast, and our pediatrician's colleague came to check on me and Baby C. He thought that Baby Boy looked a little yellow so he ordered a lab test for jaundice; funny thing is that I had asked Husband the night before if he looked a little yellow. We waited until about 10 AM for results while the nurses kept coming by to hustle us out for discharge. The results came out negative. The nurse said that usually, they compare the newborn's complexion to Mom's palm as a quick-and-dirty screening...but it turns out that Baby C is the color of his Daddy's palm. Heehee. We didn't leave until about 11:45 A.M. b/c of the parking hassle that Husband had to go through. The hospital was awesome in giving us tons of things to bring home -- a goody bag filled with samples, tons of gauzes, vaseline, circumcision care, pads, Dermaplast, etc.
(First car ride home!)
When we got home, we were exhausted, but in awe of our little one. We laid him in his crib for the first time and just watched him sleep angelically. We kept giddily saying, "we made him!" and "I love him!" He is so perfect!
It was also Mom's birthday, and I didn't know she was going to come over until bro called and said, "uh, Mom's already on her way! She's in downtown!" LOL It was so nice b/c the 6 of us celebrated Mom's birthday. I don't know when was the last time my bro and I celebrated her birthday with her and on her birthday. And Mom was such an awesome Mom. She came with like 6 bags of stuff to make sure I was taken care of.
The first night at home was rough. I kept feeding and feeding and every time I put him down to sleep, he started crying! I thought I had finally put him down to sleep and went to the bathroom around 4:30 AM but then he started crying so Husband got up and took over. He told me to go to sleep and not to worry. I was so lucky to get almost 4 hours of sleep that really, really helped.
Husband has been awesome. I know my family thinks it's weird or laugh when I say Husband is going to be the stay-at-home parent, but in all honesty, he is probably so much more capable than I am! He is such a natural! And I am so grateful that he wants so much to be involved.
We are a family. :)
Why does his hair stick straight up after each wash but magically goes down by the next morning?
